Evening Star Newspaper, January 29, 1933, Page 22

THE EVENING STAR With Sunday Morning Edition. WASHINGTON, D. C. SUNDAY.......January 29, 1933 THEODORE W. NOYES....Editor U TR G, B The Evening Star Newspaper Company Business Office: 11th_St. ‘and Pennsylvania Ave. e o e Lake. Michigan. Buldbia. hicags Office: Lake Mic : a0 Oice . 14 Regent, St., London. Englana. - théa the City. A S b b B 60c per month Collection made Orders may be sent NAtional 5000. Rate by Mall—Payable in Advance. Maryland and Virginia, Daily and Sunday....1yr.$10.00; 1mo.. 85¢ Daily only . 1yr, $6.00: 1mo., 50¢ Bunday only . 1yr, $4.00; 1mo. 40c All Other States and Canada. Daily and Sund: 1yr.. $12.00; 1mo.. $1.00 Daily only . 1yr, $8.00: 1 5¢ Sunday only 1yr, $.00; 1 50c Member of the Associated Press. ssociated Press is exclusively entitled to the Alse ot republication of all news dis- patehes credited to it or not otherwise cred- t so the local news ed in this paper and lso the local news o reserved. mo.. mo.. published herein. All rights of special dispatches herein are Local Sentiment on Beer. It is improbable that Congress will autborize, as suggested, a referendum on beer for the District of Columbia. But the three questions that the Cru- saders, advocates of the local beer bill, would have Congress submit to a vote by the people of the District are never- theless interesting because of their bearing on the general subject of beer legislation. The three questions are: [$8) Sh)‘g')the Sheppard bone-dry act b°<‘:‘."§1§ding the repeal of the eight- eenth amendment, shall the sale of beer be authorized in the District of Co- lumbia? (3) Shall Congress adopt a modern, onable system of liquor control suit- » for the District of Columbia, to b come effective if and when the eight- cinth amendment is repealed? This questionnaire, requiring & flat “Yes” or “No" answer, is not unlike the classic question, “Have you stopped beating your wife?” There are many who might feel inclined to answer “Yes” and still feel that necessary con- ditions and explanations have been omitted. An answer to the first and second questions, for instance, would 7 ¢ it is a dishonest dollar. and moist, should work together to the end that the local liquor-control system which is to be substituted for local and | national prohibition shall effectively protect the Capital community against the evils and injuries of the old-time saloon system. ———————— Is the Dollar Dishonest? There is & lot of talk today of the “dishonest dollar” and the inflationists apparently want to make it honest. Senator Borah defines the ‘“dishonest. dollar” as follows: A dollar which takes three times as much wheat to buy, three or four times as much cotton to buy, two or three times as many hogs to buy in 1933 as it did in 1929 is not an honest dollar; But why blame it on the dollar? Sup- pose a farmer had been accustomed to swap a bushel of wheat for a cheese until so many other farmers raised so much wheat that many of them were willing to give two bushels of wheat for the same cheese? Would that condemn the cheese as a dishonest cheese? Sup- pose, on the other hand, that a scarcity of wheat and a plethora of cheese made it so that the farmer could obtain the same cheese for & half bushel of wheat? Would the cheese or the wheat be dis- honest? Senator Connally of Texas is suspi- cious of inflation by free coinage of silver, but advocates reducing the amount of gold in the dollar in order to make the dollar “honest” again. Senator Gore of Oklahoma chose a fable of his own to illustrate the Connally proposal and it can be applied with equal force to all currency inflation schemes. It is a little long, but it is worth retelling as he told it: Suppose that in 1929—it is rather a wild assumption—the Senator from Texas and I were each possessed of $1.000 in gold coin of the United States of present standard of weight and fine- ness. The Senator from Ohio applied to me for a loan of $1,000 in gold. I made answer that I did not like the outlook. I refused the loan, stating that I pre- ferred to keep my gold in my sock or locked up in a strong box. The Senator from Ohio then applied | to the Senator from Texas for a loan of $1,000 in gold. The Senator from ‘Texas, more public-spirited than myself, | with more confidence in the outlook, made the loan of $1,000 in gold, pay- |able four years after date. When the date of payment arrived | prices had declined 50 per cent. Gold i had appreciated 100 per cent. The Sen- |ator from Ohio took $500 in gold of | standard weight and fineness to the| | Senator from Texas and made tender. | institution for the building of - citizen, ship as well as for training American youth in the fundamentals of national defense. ‘With Congress at the moment ‘being asked to include $15,000,000 in ghe $500,000,000 direct relief bill to care for the mounting problem of “transient 9outh,” no more inappropriate hour could well be chosen for abandoning the C. M. T. camps. Bach Summer, in ordinary times, they absorb between 37,000 and 40,000 boys and youths, and would accommodate more if Congress made it possiple. The camps and the asociated or- ganized reserves are part and parcel of the national defense scheme recom- mended by Gen. Pershing after the World War. At best, they form but a minor, though useful, nucleus for man- Power emergencies, should these ever arise again. It would be penny-wise, pound-foolish economy in these trou- blous economic times at home and no less incalculable and menacing times abroad to strike & blow at so useful and inexpensive a source of preparedness supply. To do s0 would be to unlearn some of the lessons the World War is supposed to have taught. ————— TUp to the Power Company. Commendable progress toward accept- able compromise has been made by the representatives of the Potomac Electric Power Co,, the Public Utilities Commis- sion and the People's Counsel in the matter of & new agreement by which rates will be reduced on the first of February and future rates will be ad- justed amicably without resort to pro- longed litigation. All parties are in agreement as to the principle to be embodied in the proposed compromise, this being that the decision of the District Supreme Court as announced by Justice Luhring, in 80 far as it relates to the power of the Public Utilitles Commission to modify the terms of a sliding scale ar- rangement, shall stand, but that the power company, in return for abandon- ing its court fight, is allowed certain modifications in the terms of the slid- ing scale arrangement set forth in the Supreme Court decision. It has been difficult to agree, how- ever, on the exact phraseology for ex- pression of this principle, and on ob- Jection by the People's Counsel, previous negotiations were temporarily halted. They have been resumed, and the for many persons depend upon What|The Senator from Texas suggested that | Phraseclogy has now been agreed upon Congress does as National Legislature for the Nation at large in the way of legalizing beer and other alcoholic beverages, One might feel strongly opposed to legalizing beer in advance of repealing the eighteenth amend- ment, but should Congress declare that | he had lent to the Senator from Ohio | $1,000 of standard weight and fineness, | and that he desired, and all that he de- | sired, was the return of as much gold | as he had parted with. | | The Senator from Ohio stated that| | while the loan bore the form of gold.l | after all, he had borrowed purchasing |power, and he was tendering to the by counsel for all parties. Counsel for the power company must, however, ob- taln the company's approval of the new agreement. This places the mat- ter squarely up to the power company. The company will be anxious to pre- | serve unbroken its good record for an- beer is a legal beverage, it is unreason- | Senator from Texas as much purchas- | nual reductions in rates for the last able to believe that the District will or | i) could remain dry. Many would prefer to know the specifications of a “rea- sonable system of liquor control suitable for the District of Columbia” before piving an afirmative answer and still | ing power as he had obtained, that $500 |in gold would buy as much now as | $1.000 in gold would buy when the loan | was negotiated. The Senator from| | Texas, when pay day comes, still insists | |on a thousand gold dollars of standard | weight and fineness. The Senator from Ohio comes to| | nine years. ———— Ordinarily debts are avolded in friendly conversation. European neigh- | bors have found them so interesting that they would rather talk about them feel that there should be a reasonable | Congress, exerts his infiuence with this than pay them. In small transactions system of control if and when the Yquor traffic is legalized. | legislative body and prevails upon Con- | | gress to cut down the number of grains in a standard gold dollar to one-half of | tourists have always found an inclina- tion for friendly bargaining, and the Then there are many who favor repeal | what it was when the contract was en- | S3Me social trait may persist in & mani- of the Sheppard local bone-déry act only when simultaneously with repeal there is substituted as a local liquor law an effective “system of liquor con- trol suitable for the District of Colum- bia.” They oppose repeal of the Shep- pard local liquor-control law without at the same time enacting a substitute. They oppose leaving the District for a period without any local liquor-control law whatever. In response to the second question there are many who favor authoriza- tion of the sale of beer in the District only when such sales are made subject to an effective local “system of liquor centrol.” ‘They feel strongly that there should be no period during which the sale of beer is authorized here, free entirely from an effective “system of liquor control.” In response to the third question therc are many who believe that no “system of liquor control” is “suitable for the District” unless it gives effect to the partisan pledges against the return of the saloon, and unless it cre- ates effective safeguards against the re- turn of the evils of the saloon that are as stringent as those which were opera- tive in the District before the saloon and all liquor traffic were prohibited. Their desire would be to vote for or against some specific proposed local “system of liquor control,” and not to vote in the abstract for a reasonable system of liquor control, leaving it en- tirely to a future Congress to determine what system is reasonable. The chief objection to this ques- tionnaire, therefore, is clearly that it fails to include the most important of all questions relating to the proposed legalization of beer and other liquors. It says nothing about the saloon. A fairer test of local sentiment would be gained by submitting such questions as these: Do you favor the legalization of beer and the return of the beer saloon? Do you favor the legalization of beer, coupled with effective measures to pre- vent the return of the saloon? Do you oppose both the legalization of beer and the return of the saloon? Doubtless a number of affirmative answers to the first and third questions would be received. But if the majority sentiment can be gauged by declara- tions of leaders of both parties (leaving aside the moral and legal questions in connection with legalizing beer before the eighteenth amendment is repealed) 1t is also probable that & majority would answer the second question in the af- fimsative. The preponderance of wet sentiment is not to be denled, but the theme of pre-election wets, responsible in part for moulding some of this senti- ment, was that beer and liquors could De legalized without the return of the saloon. Both partles, though differing a8 to methods by which it would be pre- vented, were emphatic in their declara- tlons against the return of the saloon. The unfortunate pert of the business mow is that legislatipn upon which there has been an expression of opinion has been so framed as to omit mention of the problem of banning the saloon. ‘That omission caused the fallure of the naked repeal amendment in the House. That omission accounted for much of the criticism leveled against the House beer proposal. And it is the obvious difficulty of legalizing beer in advance ~ of the eighteenth amendment's repeal and at the same time assuring the people that the evils of the old saloon will be prevented that accounts for the greater part of the suspicion with which the local beer bill, as proposed, is wviewed by local citizens. All good Washingtonlans, wet, dry ! 4 | tered into. He returns to the Senator | from Texas and makes tender of one- | half as much gold as he borrowed; and | the Senator from Texas, under the | compulsion of Congress, receives one- | half as much gold as he parted with. | "1 am watching the transaction. | | have kept my gold in my sock, and I| | have twice as much gold as the Sen-| | ator from Texas. I have twice as much | purchasing power as the Senator from Texas, because my gold slumbered in- stead of working. | Which, in this case, was dishonest? | The gold dollar or the “Senator from | Ohio” and the Congress of the United States? The question is important. As | Senator Gore pointed out, “We wonder on the one hand why credit is refused, | when on the other hand we are dis- | cussing the passage of laws which will | make it impossible for creditors who have extended credit to collect their| | debts.” | Who are the creditors? They are not merely those who own the mort- gages on the farmers' farms, or who hold the notes on real estate. The | holders of $26,000,000,000 of tax-exempt | Government bonds are creditors, the owner of a bank account or a savings | deposit or a life insurance policy is a | creditor and the l6wliest wage-earner is, in a sense, a creditor, his employer ow- ing him for services rendered. And these are the creditors who would fare much as the Senator from OLlo fared |in the fabie related ebove under cur-| | rency-debasing policies which for '.hei time being have been properly rexaguted‘ | to. the background. Those who would | gain would not be the debtors so much as those who hoard their gold, as the | Senator from Oklahoma hoarded fit, ‘the geold which “slumbered instead joz working” It is the problem of | Congress to wake this gold up and put it | to work by inspiring confidence in the | honesty and integrity of the Federal | Government. ——— Discouraging elements of the public thought predict a revolution. Other people claim that we have had one and that another is liable to happen each four years. ——————————————— ‘When Economy Is Unwise. That retrenchment in Federal ex- penditure is inescapable and that econ- omy must begin somewhere is axiomatic and brooks no argument. But it is no less. fundamental that the economy axe should be applied in the right and not in the wrong place. The House of Rep- resentatives has just given a capital fllustration of that principle by rejecting the Budget Bureau's proposal to do away with Citizens' Military Training Camps. By a vote of 207 to 156 on January 24 the lower branch of Con- gress increased the War Department ap- propriations by $3,032,189, including $2,- 500,000 for the camps and an additional $532,189 for the Organized Reserves of the Army. It was a wholesome decision. Any- thing else would have been misplaced economy. Incidentally, the expliing Seventy-second Congress kept its rec- ord clear, for it was the second time during its life that it restored these items to the military budget, despite the opposition of Representative Collins of Mississippi, chairman of the Appropria- tions Subcommittee concerned with Army affairs. Mr. Collins’ taunt that the purpose of the Citizens’ Military Training Camps is to teach “the boys to swim, to jump and to play ring- around-a-rosy and all those things” was reproved by a substantial majority of the House, which takes the view that the C. M. T. C. movement is a valuable festation even in so great a matter as international obligations. ——r—— America’s oldest physician is Dr.| Merritt H. Eddy of Vermont, who has | Jjust celebrated his 100th birthday an- niversary. He is said to have charged only fifty-five cents a call. Possibly he has enjoyed life as a reward of his as- sociation with neighbors who held him in affection and esteem instead of ad- miring him as a financier. —————————— Whatever may be the monetary effect | of Senator Glass' banking bill, it has accomplished a deflation of the| filibuster. | —————— ‘When a fillbuster is next undertaken a musical composer might be engaged | to lend interest in words that do not mean anything in' particular. -—ooe—. A President-elect has many advisers. The one whose advice is taken is the figure of real importance. SHOOTING STARS. BY PHILANDER JOHNSON. The Big Day. ‘There won't be any argument Upen inauguration. Forgetful of all discontent, ‘We'll hold the grand ovation. On “pros and cons” we will not doze. ‘We'll revel unmolested. The poetry will conquer prose And cons will be arrested. And should the climate disagree With plans for the procession An overshoe gavotte will be A form of dance expression. And if to fret the joyous crowd Debate should start a-balking. ‘We'll have the brass band play so lcud That none can hear the talking. In All Modesty. “I suppose you think you know ex- actly how this Government ought to be run,” remarked the man who never speaks save with a slight sneer. “No,” replied Senator Sorghum, “I don't pretend to know how it ought to be run. Only, on seein’ the mistakes other fellers make I get kind o’ recon- ciled to takin’ a chance on some of my own.” The Non-Reader, “Does that salesman read all the books he gets people to subscribe for?” “Certainly not. A book agent is too smart ever to allow himself to become & bookworm.” Investigation. Alas, the days are very few, Such is the mind’s inquiring state, ‘When no one digs up something new For Congress to investigate. Interest Secure. “I don't believe Josh is interested in the dear old home,” remarked Farmer Corntossel sadly. “Yes, he is,” replied Josh's mother, “and he's goin’ to keep on bein’ inter- ested regardless of pleasures and pal- aces, so long as the old home is the only place where three meals per day are absolutely reliable.¥ L Forced Optimism. T'm optimistic, I declare. I seek for comfort and repose. I'm glad the peanut does not wear A shell such as the oyster grows. Jud Tunkins zays he never yet saw | that & man who said he loved work that tion. Y wasn't more or less fickle in his affec- | sides of D. C, JANUARY 29, 1933—PART TWO. PERSONAL BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN, D. D, LL. D, Bishop of Washington. “How shall I bring the ark of God home to me?” This question was asked by a young and powerful King at the beginning of his reign. The situation in his kingdom was chaotic. Misrule and civil strife covering a long period had almost dismembered it. Imme- diately upon coming to his place of power, he consulted with the leaders of his army concerning the large prob- lems of the state. His first considera- tion was to restore to his people that Which symbolized their religious faith. The ark of Israel was & movable altar. It meant to those people more than the flag means to us, for it was the evidence to them of the presence of God. It had accompanied them in all their pilgrimages and in all their bat- tles. Now, for 50 years, it had enemies, the Phillistines. The retura of this altar meant to the King and his people the return of the favor of God. True, it was only a symbol, but it was a symbol that was indispensable to their well-being; thus it was that|has David sought to restore it to its place Mm"’ thinking ,ul we are much those c{lnn that we hold to be vital to our life as a people. We are at- tempting to set our house in order, and on every hand we are seeking to discover what are the indispensable things, the essentials of our individual and corporate life. A distinguished New England writer, in & book entitled, “The Revolt Against Civilization,” maintains that there are elements in our present corporate life that are repellent and offtnsive to the great masses of the people. He speaks of the revolt of those who, viewing with distrust the existing social and industrial order, would destroy it and substitute for it that which seems more just and equitable. One of the conspicuous things that our existing order lacks is that which witnesses to & consistent recognition of the pres- ence of God in the affairs of the State and Nation. Beyond this, there is the lack of a conscious recognition of the presence of God in the daily concerns been | of God home to me?” absent, having been taken by their ol@ RELIGION cial enterprises. Too frequently in our effort to restore a lost confidence and & lost hope, we appeal to some tem- porary expedient or apply some pallia- tive to tide us over a crisis, with the result that there follows in a brief space & situation more serious and menacing than that which formerly confronted us. ‘There is a growing conviction on the part of those who are seriously mind- ed, that while religion is indispensable to_the life of the State as a whole, it has value only in so far as it touches intimately and vitally the life of each individual. In & word, it is a personal matter, and the large question for each one of us today is that which David asked: “How shall I bring the ark ‘The expression of our religious faith has been altogether too impersonal; we have thought of it as something which had to do with people in the mass. We have used it as a palliative, and sought to apply it to the ills of society. There been too little consclousness of its meaning and application to our own individual condition, and to our habits in our dally intercourse. ‘We have reverenced the altar in the church; we have failed to reverence it and respect it in our homes and of- fices. There are too many avowedly “Christian” homes, whose children witness to not! that speaks of a re- ligious practice it affects their out- look upon life or their daily conduct. The whole attitude of Jesus was ol that sought to emphasize the applica- tion of a saving religious faith to the individual and his needs. He placed emphasis always upon the personal ap- plication of the great truths He taught. He sought to purify and ren- der wholesome human life, em- phasizing the individual's responsibil- ity. He would seek the one lost sheep, even though there were ninety and nine in the fold, because the lost one was of like value with those safely folded. Jesus estimated man at his full value. His teaching, on which Chris- of the home and our multifarious so- !lij tianity is founded, is a personal re- iglon. Farm Debts, International Economic Congress and Inflation Factors of Year BY WILLIAM HARD. In the great economic political race of 1933 there are three outstanding en- trants. The first is the reduction of debts, especially farm debts. The sec- ond is the monetary and commercial negotiations which will take place in the International Economic Conference next Summer. The third is the infla- tion of the currency of the United States. It is hoped in conservative quarters in Washington, Demqgratic as well as Republican, that the first two of these | entrants will crowd out the third lnd‘z prevent it from éver passing the winning post. It is hoped that the reduction of debts through legislation by the Con- gress and the enhancement of prices through co-operative action in the In- ternational Economic Conference may | so improve the general economic situ- | ation that the advocates of currency | inflation will be silenced. * ok % ox | ‘The reduction of debts is now broadly | admitted in Washington to be the fore- most national economic problem con- fronting the Congress. This is a be- lated realization of the true nature of | the economic emergency. The Congress | to date has been giving its attention almost entirely to secondary matters. It has nibbled at the ultimately disaj pointing idea of trying to restore pro: perity through the legalization of in- toxicating liquors- It has endeavored | to better the condition of the farmers| through limiting imports of agricultural | products from the Philippine Islands. It has given considerable time to the allotment_plan for raising farm prices. It only riow is coming to a serious de- talled consideration of the methods whereby a reduction of debt can be ac- | complished. | In the matter of farm debts it now is clearly spparent that it would be cheaper for the people of the United States to pay off ail the farm debts now existing through congressional appro- priations of governmental money for rurpose than it would be to adopt the allotment plan or any other corre- sponding plan for farm price fixation! as & permanent policy. | The allotment plan would lay upon the consumers of the United States an annual tax of at least one billion dol- | lars. It would do this if passed by the Senate in the form in which it was passed by the House of Representatives. It probably cannot ever be successfully put into the statute books in any form materially different. The allotment plan | may accordingly properly be estimated | as a plan requirinig a billion dollars of | annual tax expense. ERE N Y Meanwhile the grand total of all farm | mortgage indebtedness in the United States is less than $10,000,000,000. The billion dollars necessitated annually | by the allotment plan, if transferred to | the liquidating of farm mongnges,; would pay them all off in less than 10 years. > Naturally, it is not proposed that any such drastically complete operation should be undertaken by the Federal Government. It is proposed only that the Federal Government should con- | tribute its guarantee to the rewriting of | certain numerous farm mortgages and that it should make advances of money for assisting in the process of reducing both the face value and the interest borne by such mortgages in the more distress&d parts of the agricultural com- munity. The legislation introduced to- ward that end by Senator Hull of Ten- nessee and Senator Robinson of Ar- kansas has the approval not only of many political friends of the farmer in ‘Washington, but also of many highly conservative financiers in the Wail Street district of New York City. This legislation is defended on the ground of humanity and of justice and defended likewise on the theory that if the farmer's debts are reduced he will not so eagerly demand an inflated ana increased currency wherewith to pay them. The debts reduction legislation is an nthem’%ud circumvention of cur- rency inflation legislation. * X ok x It is simultaneously desired by man: high political and diplomatic nyuther&!' ties here that the International Eco- nomic Conference next Summer shall in two ways attempt to raise prices both for the farmer and for the manufac- turer. ' do with the The first way has to management of central banking sys- tems. It is suggested that those sys- tems in all leading countries, including the United States, should agree to maintain _an “easy money” policy whereby potential credit should be ex- panded and the possibility of a rise in prices created. The objective is to make prices rise all over the world by making credit superabundant all over the world. Critics of the proposal maintain that it is merely a scheme to substitute in- flated credit for an apprehended in- flated currency. They denounce it in the same terms in which they denounce currency inflation proposals. They con- tend that at the present time'in the Federal Reserve System of the United States there has been an expansion of potential credit so stupendous that any sudden marked revival of business might give us an inflation of actual credit and an inflation of prices— particularly stock market prices—that might defy all efforts at control by the Federal Reserve authorities. The posi- tion of these critics is that we are al- ready faced with the chance of exces- sive inflation in the next period of pros- perity, and that the International Eco- nomic Conference should do nothing to enlarge and accentuate that chance the ht:l-nl m‘fin‘m the two cent on Do, AtDc, By such cbservers & preference is ex- pressed for negotiations in the Inter- national Economic Conference leading toward a lowering of international eco- nomic barriers and toward the restora- tion of the gold standard in the coun- tries that have abandoned it. They argue that the lowering of ecnomic bar- riers would revive the exportation of farm products from the United States and would thus raise the prices of those products. They argue, further, that the restoration of the gold stand- | ard in countries now operating on de- | preciated currencies would check the | imports into the United States from | those countries and would thus again | tend to raise prices here. i In any case, there is no doubt that | in the International Economic Confer- | ence there will be a strong pressure to- | ward devices of some sort for bringing | commodity prices back to a higher level. | If, thereupon, the American farmer, | besides having seen his mortgage debts | reduced, should see his market prices | raised, he no longer, it is asserted, would be interested in the supposed | debt-reducing and price-raising quali- ties of the various currency inflation | measures now circulating in the corri- | dors of the Capitol. | x ok % % | That those measures are meanwhile | winning a greater and greater suport is a proposition that camnot be candidly contradicted. It is, nevertheless, ap- parent that they cannot come to frui- | tion during this session of the Con-‘ gress. The one inflationary measure | that is likely to be seriously considered by the Banking and Currency Commit- tee of the House of Representatives | during this session is the one fathered | by the chairman of the committee, Mr. Stegall of Alabama. | This bill has a silver aspect and & paper currency aspect. In its silver aspect it provides that the Government shall purchase large quantities of silver at silver's gold value, but it does not provide for the free coinage or ‘re- monetization” of silver. On its paper currency side it provides that the Gov- | ernment shall purchase $1,000,000,000 | of its own bonds in the market and | shall pay for them in $1,000,000,000 of | new “legal tender” Treasury money. P | The bill is a very moderate one in | comparison with many of the other inflationary measures now written into proposed laws. 1t perhaps would be no shock whatsoever to the monetary stabil- ity of the country unless its passage should throw Wall Street into an hy terical panic. However, its passage fore March 4 is virtually impossible. | It is in the special session of the Congress next Summer that bills for new emissions of paper currency, bills | for diminishing the gold content of the gold dollar, bills for purchasing silver and for “remonetizing” silver, and bills | for “stabilizing” the purchasing power | of money through Federal Reserve ma- | nipulations at a different level from | the level now existing will reach their full flood. It is not too much to say | that President-elect Roosevelt, who | then will be President Rocseveit, will | find himself obliged to be successful in the reduction of farm debts and | successful also in the revival of a pros- | pect of prosperity through the deliber- ations of the International Economic | Conference, or else a fairly drastic cur- | rency inflation measure of some variety | will go to the Demccratic White House | from the new Democratic Congress. Puzzling Officials BY HARDEN COLFAX. How far will it be wise and profitable to push the campaign to convince Amer- icans that they should buy American products exclusively? How far can the | movement go before it works damage to our present and prospective foreign trade and throws out of work many of the several millions of Americans now making a living through export and im- port_activities? ‘These are questions which are now puzzling Government officials in Wash- ington and business leaders who have been impressed with the progress al- ready made by the American-goods-only idea. It has taken hold of the general public and e in organized form under many s! orm headlines. Two bave become nationally known through cam- paigns similar to the one in Englend labeled “buy British,” which is reported to have scored noteworthy success, par- ticularly after the abandonment of the gold standard and the enactment of a customs tariff by Great Britain. Various private interests have been bombarding the Departments of Com- merce and the Treasury, demanding that they take some stand in the mat- ter. The Secretary of Commerce has stated that. in his opinion, he is not jus- tified in taking any official attitude—pro or con—toward & “buy American” pol- icy. The ent of Commerce, of course, can wve no opposition to a popular_“buy American” move. How- ever, officials do observe that the issue is, after all, not a patriotic one, but an economic one, and that the two do not always mix. Also, it is pointed out that thousands of American enterprises are engaged in the business of exporting the products of American industry and thousands more are dependent for their very existence on the importing busi- ness. In response to considerable clamor from members who have been insisting that the Government at least should | tant page in history, which prompts | War, has just wriiten into the C-m-| “puy American,” the House of Repre- | e S e Capital Sidelights BY WILL P. KENNEDY. How Government research benefits all thepeople is emphasized by Repre- sentative John W. Summers, Republi- can, of Washington, who by all-around experfence in'life and by extensive re- | search at home and in foreign lands is eminently qualified to pass judgment. Representative Summers speaks out positively at this time because he be- lieves that the ple generally are being deceived and misled. He has been progressively a farm hand, clerk in a village store, school teacher in Indiana and Texis, practicing physician for more than a quarter of a century, lieu- tenant colonel in the medical section during the World War, State legislator and member of Congress for 14 years. ‘The United States conducts research for three purposes, he, explains. First, to promote general welfare; second, to determine how to administer the laws most efficiently, and third, to increase the efficiency of the country in war. ‘The _research 'work of the War and Navy Departments and of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics is primarily intended to satisfy the third purpose. Studies of methods for crime detection and of food and drug adulter- ation and much of the work of the Tariff Commission are examples of re- search of the second class. The first kind of studies includes investigations of human, animal and plant diseases, insect pests, soils and fertilizers, dust explosions, standardization of all sorts of commodities, utilization of industrial wastes and development of our natural resources. “The Government has no research projects the solution of which will bene- it only single industries or small groups of people. The development of commer- cial articles or processes is left to pri- vate enterprise,” declares Representa- tive Summers. Most of the problems attacked by the Government, he points out, require a large organization to offer any hope of complete success. These organizations are of two kinds: FPirst, those where a number of different kinds of scientists work on various phases of a single prob- lem under the direction of an official who co-ordinates their activities, and second, those where several agencies work together simultaneously on the same problem. . “A survey of detailed appropriations indicates,” says Representative Sum- mers, who is a member of the Appro- priations Committee, “that the total spent for all kinds of research in the present fiscal year will be less than 1 per cent of the total budget, and only about 25 cents a year per person of the total population.” He warns his colleagues in Con that “if the United States should aban- don research the other countries of the world by continuing research would quickly outstrip this Nation in effi- ciency. The result would be that we should in a very short time not only be unable to compete with England, France, Germany or Holland for world trade, but we should actually be unable to compete in our own home markets, in spite of any tariff we could impose. “The United States would cease to be self-supporting and its industries and workmen would be forced to emigrate to countries where modern methods and progress remained the rule. A research | holiday, like disarmament, must be world-wide or else the nation continuing research will reap an easy advantage over the nation that suspends her re- search activities.” % xx In our daily rush we overlook that| history is being mede each day and that the record must be kept straight for future generations. The Congress in overriding the President’s veto on the Philippine in- dependence bill has written an impor- a review of important events in Amer- ican history that wcre enacted 34| years 2go. Representative Anthony J. Griffin (Democrat, New York). who, after being an engireer, studied law under Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, was prize es- sayist at New York Univer-ity, organ- ized and commanded a company in the | 69th Regiment, Ncw York Notional| Guard, curing the Sran'sh-Americen | gressional Reccrd “A Bit cf Histo “On August 1. 1898 '®he recalls, Filivino: prcmu'gated to the world| their declaretion cf indep-ndence. Aguiraldo had the Spaniards hemm-d| in st Manila, end there wa-~ bardly | en American soldier cn t § ds ex- cept th-se placed by Admiral Dewcy‘ in the deckvar”s at Cavite. | “Aguinaldo had established & pro-| visional governmont. The Filipino army had completely surrounded the City of Mznila and its fall was only a matter of time. The Filipinos maintained the; siege until Gen. Merritt arrived. A plan was then conceived to save the, face of the Spanish general. who pro-; fessed to believe that the Spanish honor | would be debased if the Spaniards| yielded to the native armv. i “The unders‘ending was that the city weuld yield if the American Army | nt through the motions of an at- tack—a sham attack—which was to b2 without bloodshed. The advance was| accordingly made, but. through some misunderstanding.” the atack took on| the appeaiance of a real battle and the | defense the appearance of a real re- sistance. 'There ensued some delay. “Then suddenly, a few Americans ap- peared on the wall—they had been let in by the back gates—and began signal- ling to cease firing and to enter the city peaceably. This they did, but the Filipino Army was cunningly kept in their trenches, not allowed to enter the city, and denied the honer of joining | with the American Army in the cere- monials attending the formal cepitula-, tion of the Spanish Army. The whole | transaction was opera bouffe of the most farcial nature and reflected little credit on our Army, our flag, or our Nation. ’ “Admiral Dewey, who had committed himself to Aguinaldo, as far as gentle- man was able to , was_ disgusted. Our_tricky acquisition of the islands hrroufm on a rebellion lasting five years, involving the loss of thousands of lives. “Dewey exgressed the opinion, short- ly after the battle of Manila Bay, that the Filipinos were more capable of self- government than the Cubans. If that were true in 1898, surely it is no credit to our tutelage, after a third of a cen- tury of American domination, to sug- gast that they are less cliltured, or less able to govern themselves now than they apparently were then.” the | works, “unless inconsistent with the public interest or unless the cost is un- reasonable.” This, however, is not re- garded as particularly ificant, be- cause it does not commit the Govern- | ran ment to any new procedure. As a matter of fact, in spite of the ap- rehension on the part of interested cit- &ns. in recent years there has not been any dangerous flood of imports. The Department of Commerce has just is- sued preliminary figures concerning the total foreign trade of the United States in 1932, showing that it then reached the lowest level recorded since 1903. Both expcrts and imports were less by nearly 70 per cent in comparison with the figures of 1929. The dollar value of the shipments of goods coming from abroad has declined relatively just as fast as the value of the we sent abroad, and shrinkage in the average for the rest of the world, particularly for the countries of Eu- Tope. ‘Thus the alleged flood of imports has already become a dwindling stream. It is not the flood of imports, Commerce officials say, but the low selling prices of such as do come in—despite our tariff— that are causing concern. Changes have occurred in the char- acter of our import trade, it is true, and this may account for some of the scare over the importations of cheap goods frot countries with depreciated curren- cies. However, according to the official view, it is the old story. We cannot keep up exports if we cut cff imports. Whatever may be done in the emer- gency, it is certain that, as a permanent ition, if we would sell we must th s above | g e . We cannot boycott foreign 'lulm. our own " (Copyright, 19332 The Nation’s Steel Deficit BY FREDERIC ]J. HASKIN. cans consumed more steel in 1932 than the railroad industry, which normal years, vies with the con- struction industry in absorbing the out- put of the steel mills. The American Steel Institute has made the state- ment that oxidization of steel is going on in the United States at a rate in excess of the rate of new production. Shipments of iron ore from the mines in 1932 were only about 5,000,000 tons, compared with shipments as great as ,000,000 tons in some previous years. This situation, it is recognized, can not last much longer. A heavy deficit in steel must be made up and the prospect of new orders, so long post- poned, holds the best promise for a re- newal of industrial activity in the coun- try today. the basic in- Steel is as regarded dustry of the United States and its | P8in activity is regarded as the best barome- ter of general business conditions in the country. It has been declining steadily since the beginning of the depression in 1929. In that year production of new steel amounted to about 40,000,000 tons. As the depression developed, new building construction fell off. Because of lessened production in all lines, the railroads were in receipt of curtailed revenues and this prevented them from buying new rails and new locomotives and from making various improvements to structures. The effect on the steel industry was immediate. In 1930 pro- duction had dropped to 30,000,000 tons. In 1931 continued adverse conditicns in the country brought production of steel down to 20,000,000 tons, and last year it amounted to only 10,000,000 tons. What are generally called tin cans actually are not tin at all. The type of can used for all sorts of canned foods is made of very thin steel sheets. It is a phenomenon of depressed times that canned goods continue to be consumed. The canning industry has developed s0 rapidly in the United States that it might be sald the Nation takes its meals from cans. Sold a low price and of uniform high quality, owing to the strict enforcement of the Federal pure food law, this type of nourishment has 50 extended a market that the busi- ness of manufacturing the containers has grown to huge dimensions. Steel Needs Care. In anything like s normal year it would not be possible for more steel to be consumed in the manufacture of cans than by the railroads. Great as the increase in can consumption has been, this curious situation could not obtain save for extremely adverse railroad conditions. In former typical years, the railroads consumed as much as one- third of the entire steel production and were far ahead of all others as custo- mers for the metal. The year 1932, found them in fourth place. | Although the automobile industry also has been severely depressed, it was the | best steel customer in 1932. It passed | the building industry, which in 1931 had been first, and in 1932 fell to second | place. Then, in third place, came the“ tin cans, consuming 10 per cent of the | entire output. Railroads had fallen to fourth place. In sixth place stood steel used in the oil industry—drills, pipes, | tanks and tools. | In normal years the export trade accounts for & large tonnage, but, along with 50 many other items, steel e: have fallen to less than one-: what they were in 1928 and 1929. buflding, which normaliy consumes & heavy tonnage, is practically at a standy still and is largely out of the steel marzet. One reason for the high rate of oxidization, which is causing the Nae tion's steel to rust away at a rate greater than new production, is thag steel work has not been kept painted. Large corporations, under the necessity of conserving their resources, have post- poned appropriations for paint! their buildings and other outdoor st work. Municipalities and some of which are seriously rassed through inability to collect sufe ficient taxes, have postponed the ex+ pendll;\;m necessary to keep bridges Steel will last almost indefinitely if kept well covered with paint, but in its absence, deterioration is rapid when steel work is exposed to the weather. The wastage, as the result of prevailing conditions, therefore, is huge. Every hour sees steel which cost large sums of money disappearing magically into gmfmnr through the process of oxidie n. Industries Are Interdependent. All this means that the time musy soon come when renewals no longer may be postponed. Such structures as bridges, which are subjected to constant vibration, become dangerous when the rust has eaten through the trusses, They may stand in apparently strong condition, but some extra strain, some unusual vibration, possibly accompanied by development of a flaw in the metal itself, will bring the final snap. There is always the possibility that some dise aster will overtake some community berol;a rene‘:llamlrzhmme. Such an event woul imulate replacement as Txkllo!hm]z e:se. v = e salvation of the steel ind probably will be brought about thrm a revival of railroad buying. Some ime provement is being noted in car loade ings, and the outlook for railroad ree covery is brighter than it has been fop a long time. As soon as the carriers show some signs of earning higher revenues, their credit will be restored and they will be able to borrow. With funds in hand, they will not delay in placing orders for steel. The $20,000,000,000 raflroad industry of the United States operates on a nare row margin of profit. Even in the best times the roads as a whole rarely earn more than 5 per cent. There are exe ceptions, but not many. When operate ing income falis to less than threee quarters of normal, as it did in 1933, all margin is lost and steady losses are sustained. American industry is so organized that many of its branches are interde= pendent. If the railroads had the money to buy steel, the steel industry could employ the raflroads to haul ore from the mines and the finished prode ucts from the mills. It is possible that the Government may have to take a larger part in stimulating recovery of these two major industries. Already substantial sums have been advanced through the Re- construction Finance Corporation, but not enough to do more than tide over ;k;fiu roads in the most desperate cone on. Britain Sees Conflict on | War Debts in Prospect | | BY A. G. GARDINER. LONDON, Janusry 28—The Roose-| velt-Chamberlain exchange has brought | the grim specter of war debts back to the center of the stage, with ominous indications of the difficulties ahead. The essential clash of the American | and the European points of view centers in the relative importance of the war debts as the core of the world depres- sion. It is held on this sice of the Atlantic that a final solution of the debts ques= tion is an imperative firsi step to r- covery, and that to entangle the prob- lem in other issues is to lsave the world fiounzering deeper end deeper into the morass of universal bankruptc-. Al other questions are fulsidiary to this and dependent on this. Remoe the strangle-hold of the war debts and the activities of the world will be relezsed and questions of tariffs and currencies will adjust themselves on the princip! of “solvitur ambulando.” The fact that the terms of President- elect Roosevelt’s invitation to the Brit- | ish government seemed to indicat> that | the qucstion of war debts would be complicated with collateral considera- tions caused much disquiet, which was reflected in the British reply and in Chencellor of the Exchequer Chambe.- lain's spesch this week at Leeds. Tk essence of that reply is thet, while vel- coming the invitati’n and expressing & veadines to exchange vicws on_o.oer wor government is not prepared to reach decisions which may sniicipate the dis- | cussions at the World Economic Con- ference. Whether it was necessary to empha- size this fact is doubtful. None. as the Manchester Guardian observes, suspects Mr. Roosevelt of wishing to snatch a separate agreement with this country, or with any other, which might crab the World Economic Con-| ference. Moreover, the discusisons in | ‘Washingtcn, however authoritative, can have no finality, cspecially in view of the fact that the lasi word in Ame.ica rests with @ongress, with whose ince- pendence of presidential divection this country is now abundantly famiiiar. Mr. Roosevelt's difficulties in the mat- ter are not unappreciated here. Con- gress may easily be stampeded against | whet it might regard as a too &mermu settlement, and it is agreed that Mr. Roosevelt could hardly boldly propose | to cancel nine-tenths of the debt with- | out any counterbalancing consideration | except the assurance that the World | Economic Conference will settle the rest of the international issucs. | On the other hend, the British desire to treat the debt question as a separatc | issuc is founded on the basic facts of | the situation. All opinion is ag-eed that the success of ghe World Economic Con ference depends on its being prec:ded by a final settlement of the war debt: and on the co-operation of the United States. That settlement, in the Britich view. must not prejudice the decisions of the conference. Especially it must not involve a resumption of claims on Germany or abandonment of the ar- 'ments made at Lausanne. e British position, as stated by Mr. Chamberlain, favors debt cancellation as the foundation stone to a revival of world confidence. absolute can- cellation, Great Britain proposes fina! composition with the debtors small enough to avoid imperiling the Lau- sanne agrecment or reviving impossible demands on Germany. | The alternative to a seitlement on some such lines as these is repudiation, with ell its repercussions on the alrezdy totiering fabric_of world cxcdit and | world trade. This would involve a clean breach between Europe and ::e o e ‘Conference ore it was launched. ‘This double calamity can be avoided facing of the el sightly telegraj comed. It is anticipated here that Premier Ramsay MacDonald himself will under- take the m'i;d:‘: to_America. Without disrespect colleagues, none com- mands the same confidence in an affair of such magnitude, and the success of | his collaboration with President Hoo- ver gives the assurance that if an un- derstanding is attainable he will achieve it. He has this week been “""‘""fi by the Ottll;;: d economic problems, the Biitish ° 1. name. Fifty Years Ago In The Star There were no great utility holding companies fifty years ago, but non- resident ownership of Telephcne local corporations nev- Stock Scld. ertheless prevailed, as the following in The Star of January 23, 1883, shows: “An important change was effected yesterday tnd tcday in the menegement ©oi the Washingion telephons company, The contrelling ints b e by 2 s;nZi~a*2 o E: cal telphons men. bu. a tirn is 7til held iy Washing Mr. J. W. Taomfson. who o quarter of the siock, has dis entire interest, and Mr. H. D. Cooke, who owned the same amount, has sold out a portion of his stock. Messrs. J. B. Edmonds and H. A. Willard disposed cf all their stock to the same parties, giving them a controlling interest. Massts. Edmonls, Thompson and Willard today resigned as members of the board of dircctors, and H. B. Lytle of Boston, A. P. Sawyer of Newburyport, H. W. Frost of New Haven and W. O, Fisk of Lowell, Mass, the new stocke holders, were elected in their places, Messr. H. D. Cocke, C. C. Glover and H. S.Cumming- of the old Loard are mem= of the ncw. The new management hat it is their intention to give & service now than ever before and the same time extend their connec- tions and facilities. They will first build a line to Baltimore, and the erection of trunk lines to other points throughout the country are possibilities in the near future. The syndicate has secured the controlling interest in tele- phone companies in various places and their object is to form one general com= pany. which shall control telephones in much the same vy as the Western Union does the te'egraph wires. The new management deny that they have y cornection with the Western Union any and further say that this ent is not in conjunction with the E~ll Telenhone Company. nor is controlle They say that they are practical telechone men, who see the possibilities of (he future for its use greater, perhaps. then is now the case with the telegraph. The price paid for the stock was very liberal, being 130. The stock has been seiling at 108 and 110.” “Jarge prog n * * x “The representative of the Pullman car interests in Philadelphia,” says The 2 . Star of Janua Fire Havard in 33 a 26, 1883, “points Sleering Cars. out to one of the papers of that city thet no person h to decth in a sl ever been burned tern, —that 21l the fo cer of that nate 2l cosvaltiss from fire have occurred to cars buill under other paten's or no patent at all. If the stalement be true, the immunity claimed must be due rather to good fortune than to anv peculiarity of con- struction. With the heating furnace and ofl lamps used in them, the Pull- man sleepers are, under the same cire cumstances, just as liable to be set on fire and burned up with all their con- tents as those of any other style or No car in which an oil 1>mp or heating stove o furnace is used can be con-idered rafe ‘rcm fire in case of collision or derailm-nt.” * % Public g againct wirc-carrying poles within this city helf a century Citizens Remove foced “by " the fezted by the Unsightly Poles. L2110 win “The action of the people in cutting down the huge, un- Ppoles that were erected there surreptitiously and without any authority from any quarter, shows that the people are getting aroused to the necessity of protecting their own rights. It seems in this case that the telephone company, acting under a obtained from the Districi sloners to replace fire alarm and police telegraph poles from Massachusetts {avenue to Boundary sircet, proc: hurriedly to erect great uncouth poles, cvidently intended to support extensive webs of wires all the way out Ninth street to Boundary and then, with the same haste to avold interference, they without color of authority continued the erection of these hi 'en m and thence through the streets of the park.” J